We wanted to give a shout out to the restaurant wait-staff and today acknowledge all of the waiters and waiters/assistant waiters along with the headwaiters and maitre d's.
In the Crystal Dining Room you will find Senior Waiters and Waiters. The Senior Waiter is responsible for taking the order, and is very involved in serving each course of the meal and making sure everyone is pleased with their selections. The Waiter will assist at the table as needed but their major role is to go back and forth to the kitchen to wait and pick up all of the orders for a particular course and to make sure that it all comes together before the items are brought out to the waiter stations.
The Headwaiters each have a major section of the Dining Room as part of their responsibility. If someone is not happy with their order they will followup with them and ensure that a substitute item is available. If someone wants to order something special they are the ones who coordinate all of this from the ordering to serving the item. They also from time to time will prepare something in the dining room such as a dessert or other items such as the ones we have had from time to time. Most of the headwaiters have been with Crystal Cruises for a very long time. They are very experienced and they have a passion for food and for service.
The Maitre d' has several responsibilities including all of the table assignments prior to the start of the cruise and the Crystal Maitre d's are very thoughtful in the assignment of the tables. With the program that allows guests to also make reservations and to arrive to the dining room at other hours they coordinate all of this and will often seat those guests themselves. They will also try to accommodate guests should they want to dine with others who they normally do not dine with and change table sizes accordingly. In short , they are responsible for all facets of the dining room.
The level of service is extraordinary. The waitstaff is highly trained and seasoned and quickly learn guests likes and dislikes and often can make recommendations based on their knowledge of what is on the menu along with guest preferences. If they have met you for the very first time, in very short order they learn your names and how you like the meal served. The Headwaiters and the Maitre d' are very visible and they often pick up on the smallest detail that even we would not even notice that all adds to our enjoyment and experience.
The waiters/senior waiters and Headwaiters also have other responsibilities. For example, the waiters/senior waiters during the morning and afternoon might be assigned to the dining room with some working the Lido Cafe and still some working at the afternoon tea. Headwaiters also have various responsibilities such as one of them overseeing the afternoon tea.
Likewise, in the Specialty Restaurants there are waiters and assistant waiters. In Prego the waiters are very seasoned with most or possibly all of them having worked in the Crystal Dining Room. Prego has the look and feel of dining at a small restaurant in Europe. In general we find the service to be impeccable. During the daytime the waitstaff will work mainly in the Lido Cafe behind the counters serving and also putting out additional food as needed. The same applies to Silk Road as the waiters/assistants will also perform similar duties at the Lido Cafe. The Silk Road waiters and assistant are also exceptional in service and their knowledge of all of the items served. Many began their careers in various area of the ship. Most recently, some of the assistant waiters were promoted from Lido Deck Stewards to their current positions.
Waiters from Prego and the Crystal Dining Room also assist at other venues ranging from the Captain's Reception to Tastes.
There is one headwaiter per Specialty Restaurant and they perform a variety of functions.
In Silk Road the headwaiter will seat each person and then followup from time to time throughout the meal. The headwaiter is also on top of everything assisting even the waiters and assistant waiters.
In Prego the headwaiter preforms similar functions. If there is some type of special item the headwaiter that requires preparation at the table the headwaiter is involved with that. The headwaiter will continually be all around the dining room and will provide whatever assistance is needed. This is even more critical at those peak dining times.
These two headwaiters during the daytime also have responsibility working in the Lido Cafe. Between both of them they cover all of the breakfast and lunchtime overseeing the waitstaff and other areas other than the galley.
For both restaurants the headwaiters are performing tasks behind the scenes including strong coordination between the kitchen and the wait staff in the respective dining venues.
The Specialty Restaurant Maitre d' takes care of all of the reservations for both restaurants including table assignments as well as the scheduling of the waitstaff for these two restaurants and for the other areas they work at during the daytime. The Maitre d' often seats each person arriving to Prego and is highly visible in both restaurants. During the daytime, the Maitre d' oversees the Lido Cafe and also is responsible for the special buffets that are held on the Lido Deck.
Clearly, we have not touched on each and every responsibility that the waitstaff performs. There are others and each of these people work very diligently each and everyday. They do an outstanding job not only in ensuring that the meals are properly served to each guest but they do this with a smile while providing an extraordinary level of service. Whether you are on a twelve day cruise or like us an extended voyage they do their utmost to provide the highest level of service possible day in and day out in out. They do it in away that for us makes each meal very special.
They are a remarkable team. At the same time they work cohesively with those in the respective galleys who are equally key to making the overall dining experience the best it can be. We will Blog about them on another post.
These are some additional photos from Glacier Bay. Our visit to Glacier Bay is one of the most extraordinary days we have ever experienced at sea and one that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
The rangers and pilot leaving the ship at 5:00 PM.
We enjoyed another wonderful meal at the Crystal Dining Room last evening.
These are the dinner menus from the Crystal Dining Room.
The theme was Russian Night and you will note that there were several Russian items on the menu.
As part of the Russian Theme there were special tablecloths, chargers, dinner menu and the waiters, senior waiters and sommelier’s wore special outfits. These are also used when either the Symphony and/or the Serenity sail Russia in the summer months.
Standing with us are our waiter Marina and senior waiter Salvatore
Our Sommelier for this voyage with our Headwaiter Augusto
We had pre-ordered some items including a entree that was on the dinner menu the night before since we were dining at Prego. This is why we didn't really try too many of the Russian items on the menu.
Augusto prepared Keith tuna tartare which Keith enjoys a great deal. Keith hadn't had this for well over a month and really enjoys the way Augusto prepares this item.
Anne Marie had a Shrimp Cocktail.
We each had a salad as we do each evening. Keith had his standard salad and Anne Marie ordered one of the salads on the menu. This is a photo of Anne Marie's Waldorf Salad.
Keith then had an appetizer, which was Freshly Swordfish Carpaccio with Hazelnut Emulsion, Artichoke and Orange which he enjoyed. He has never had Carpaccio which is
also served in Prego but with Beef rather than Fish.
For our entree, we had pre-ordered the Broiled Alaskan King Crab Legs which had been on the prior nights menu. After all, we are in Alaska so we thought the King Crab Legs fit the bill. We were right and they were simply delicious. While Anne Marie took a little butter on the side as she does with Lobster, Keith just enjoyed their natural taste and he did not use the Lemon either.
Augusto also surprised us with an Eggplant Parmigianino, which he made himself. If we would have known we would not have had the additional courses but at least we didn't have any starches with our entree and no dessert. The Eggplant that Augusto makes is truly delicious and this is an item that Anne Marie used to make with a recipe from her Italian Grandmother so she knows her Eggplant.
We only had a portion of what you see. Otherwise we would be spending the full day in the Fitness Center today.
Augusto at work with the King Crab and then the Eggplant.
For dessert, we each enjoyed a portion of blueberries.
We slept very well last evening as we cruised towards Ketchikan, Alaska.
With a good night sleep, Keith was up and ready to go when today began with his regular workout at the Fitness Center. As his workout progressed he could begin to see outside so he enjoyed the views from the Fitness Center.
Anne Marie also got in her workout as well and then we both enjoyed Breakfast in our room.
This is our sixth time to Ketchikan. When we first visited Ketchikan there would be only one or possibly two cruise ships in port. Fast forward to when we were last here in August of last year on the Crystal Symphony and if we remember correctly there were six or seven ships in port and with so many ships in port we were anchored rather than docked. The downtown area of Ketchikan near the cruise ship dock has certainly become very touristy over the years.
The good news is that we were the first Cruise Ship to visit Ketchikan this season and there will not be another cruise ship there for another three weeks or so. With only our ship in port the local town was far less crowded and it was so much easier to explore and to enjoy ourselves. Visiting Alaska so early really turned out to be a blessing and we are very happy to have had the opportunity to do this.
We were welcomed by the stores who chose to open up for our visit. For many of the stores they hadn't opened their doors since the season ended last October. As we walked around town it was easy to spot our fellow Crystal Cruisers.
We walked for several hours and enjoyed the walk. It was cool and cloudy but that in no way dampened our spirits. After all when we were here this past August it was chilly and it was raining.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
In our past visits to Alaska we never went in the direction we did today. On two of those visits Keith went Salmon Fishing with our son one time and our son and son in law and other times we went to other areas. This time we worked our way over to Dock Street and then over to to Creek Street. On Dock Street we took this photo of a church.
Creek Street used to be the town's Red Light District where "Big" Dolly Arthur and her girls lived and worked. It was closed down in the 1950's and now is home to an array of gift shops and galleries and her home is a museum.
We took the tour of Dolly's House Museum and they welcomed us for being the first tourists of this season to take the tour. The Museum like several of the stores in town have been closed but they opened their doors for the visit of the first cruise ship of the Alaska Season. In fact, the next ship will not be here for another three+ weeks.
We then went on a nice walk over to the Totem Heritage Centre.
During the summer, this area will be full of Salmon.
Typical of Alaska, notice the float plane by the home.
When we were here in August this area was just mobbed with tourists as was the entire town. There was a major line outside the door of tourists waiting to get into several stores such as the Effy Jewelry Store.
The beautiful Crystal Serenity in port.
After we got back we had lunch and then we decided to go back into port. It was so nice to be able to just go off the ship and the town is right there.
Later in the afternoon we read and wrote and also did some additional packing. Keith also met up with friend Bob.
This evening we are attending a special World Cruise dinner and show. We will post about it tomorrow.
We also set the clocks forward one hour for the last time of this cruise.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......
This quote was provided to us from a friend, Cheryl, that we had sailed with in January of 2010. We didn't look up the author so we will just list the author as unknown.
"Winners take responsibility, loser blame others."
Keith and Anne Marie
The Alaskan photos are just spectacular, as have been your other photographs during the cruise. It is a joy to read about your adventures each day. I know it requires a great deal of time. Thank you so much for your generosity.
ReplyDeleteSylvia